San Antonio Spurs forward forward Danny Green (7) drives to the basket with Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3). File photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI |
License Photo
July 24 (UPI) -- San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green said Tuesday that he played during the 2017-18 season with a torn groin.
Green made the revelation during the first episode of his Inside the Green room with Danny Green podcast. He said he suffered a strained groin in December while playing against the Boston Celtics. Green got an MRI the next day, revealing the slight strain. He also did rehab. His agent asked him at the time if he should get a second opinion, but the injury was not revisited until Green had his exit physical, where he found out the severity of the ailment.
"I didn't want to [get a second opinion] because I had full faith and belief in the Spurs staff," Green said. "They've always been great to me. They've always done right by me. They've always done a hell of a job. So throughout the season, we monitored it, but we never went back to check on it again, because so many other injuries have happened."
Green also referenced former teammate Kawhi Leonard, who decided to seek an outside opinion on his injury last season.
"I could have gotten a second opinion, so I see where Kawhi is coming from when he got his second opinion," Green said. "Because a lot of time you'll get information from outside sources -- not saying that the Spurs staff is not up to par, it's just that not everybody's a specialist in every area ... So to go to a guy who may be in Philly to get a second opinion shouldn't hurt."
Green said that the injury could have happened during the Spurs' playoff series against the Golden State Warriors or on the day he got the physical.
"So, end of the season I had to get another MRI -- you get your exit physicals -- and a strain still there with a little tear. Since then I've been rehabbing it, basically, and now they're passing that information on to Toronto. But we don't know how long I've been playing with this strain or how long the tear has happened, because we hadn't really circled back or focussed on it that much."
Green, 31, averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 70 games last season for the Spurs. The second round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, before joining the Spurs in 2010.
Leonard and Green were both traded to the Toronto Raptors on July 18 in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
